wait, it's you?
by tomhollandprotectionsquad
Summary: Soulmates were a normal thing and people without them rarely exist. And every mark you make appears on their skin. Or Jeremy Heere and Rich Goranski are in for an awakening.
1. wop

_What's your name?_ Was written in messy scrawl the first time his soulmate wrote to him. The words were accompanied by a small drawing of a bird. It wasn't a bad drawing, though it reminded him of a bird he had seen that day.

He remembers writing 'Jeremiah' in somewhat loopy cursive, the dot of the I replaced with a heart. It was a somewhat cliche thing, but it hadn't mattered back then. He also remembers sending a 'what's yours?' back in the same lettering.

Richard was the reply.

He also remembers how livid his mother was when she found out. He remembers the late-night yelling about it and about what they would do with him. His father argued that she shouldn't get so worked up about it and his mother shoots back saying it's unnatural.

She left not too long after that. Now it's just him and his dad.

Jeremy's suddenly brought out of his thoughts by his best friend, Michael.

"You okay, Dude? You've been staring at Rich for a while." He puts the back of his hand to Jeremy's forehead as if checking for a fever. Jeremy bats it away, a slight flush to his cheeks.

"I'm fine." He looks down at his arm just as something appears on his hand.

_Care to talk?_ It is written with the same messy font as it was years ago. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a pen before pushing the sleeve of his cardigan up his arm so he'd have room to write.

"Your soulmate?" Michael asks. Jeremy nods before he writes 'sure!' on his arm under what was already written.

_Five questions?_ Is written back and Jeremy can't help but feel his cheeks redden as he writes another 'sure'.

_Is cereal soup?_ Jeremy groans at the question. It was a frequent one that they never seemed to agree on and Richard always seemed delighted to ask, as if he knew it was an annoying question. He writes a 'no!' before looking up at Michael's confused face. Then he looks at the question and seems to be holding back a chuckle.

_Of course, it is!_ Jeremy looks over at Michael with a dead expression before he rolls his eyes and writes, 'my turn. Favorite subject?'

_Killjoy._ Richard draws a frowny face before adding onto it._ It's history. Or art. You?_

'Makes sense. Mine's theater.' Not that he had been in a production of anything since elementary school since it "wasn't cool". Though all the popular kids seemed to do it here, even if it was forced, so the coolness of it wasn't an issue now.

But then there was a thing called "anxiety" that appeared. It was something he definitely did _not_ want to deal with if he didn't have to.

_That's actually really cool. I think I'm taking theater, too. What productions have you been in?_ The answer was long and took up a lot of his arm, so he waited for the message to disappear before replying.

'I actually haven't been in any recently, but maybe I can tell you about the next one?' he writes, but then he realizes that means he might actually have to sign up this year. Except, he's already written the message and Richard is already replying.

_Go ahead!_ Jeremy lets out a breath. So he was going to sign up this year. Great.

* * *

"Instead of frolicking with fairies, you'll be fleeing from zombies!" Jeremy honestly hopes that Mr. Reyes doesn't give him a big role in this. Even if a zombie apocalypse based on a piece of Shakespeare's work was somewhat interesting.

'Shakespearean zombie apocalypse.' After he writes that down, he looks up, accidentally making eye contact with Rich Goranski. He looks away quickly, not wanting to give the bully a reason to come find him later. Even then, he can feel his face heat up, either from confrontation, nervousness, or whatever else Jeremy couldn't identify.

_It sounds interesting at least?_ Jeremy frowns when the sentence is crossed out and a new one takes its place:_ you're doing that, too?_ That was interesting. He looks up again with a strange urge to check the arm of everyone in the room.

He lets out a breath when he notices everyone paying attention to either Mr. Reyes or their phones. Maybe he could be wrong.

Rich knew the kid kept looking at him. It was obvious. Though the only thing Rich didn't understand was why. Why was this nerd so interested in him?

Though the kid was cute, he'll give him that. If Rich was into nerds he probably would have liked him. (Looking back, he was very wrong.)

Don't worry about it, a voice in his head snaps. He waves the thought away as neat cursive appears on his arm. _Really?_ The side of his mouth twitches as he gets a ridiculous urge to smile. Don't.

'What a coincidence, huh?' he writes back. The response is quick._ I don't think so._

Rich glances up at the kid and makes eye contact again. The kid looks away pretty fast, red coloring his cheeks.

'Do you know something I don't?' he writes, hoping that it actually comes off as flirting. Fortunately, it does as Jeremiah responds with a _maybe, I don't know._ and he replaces the comma with a heart. _Do I?_

Rich can feel a blush forming on his face as he tries to think of a response. He looks up again, catching the nerd's gaze for the third time. Rich makes a mental note to learn his name at some point.

Then rehearsal is over and he hears a shout of "Jeremy!" coming from a kid in a red hoodie. Hoodie holds up his keys, shakes them once, and walks out, leaving Rich alone with the (obviously _not_ cute) nerd. Was his name Jeremy? It suited him.

Then he notices the rolled-up sleeve of his cardigan that exposes an arm with fading chicken scratch that seemed familiar. Jeremy also seems to notice, since he pulls his sleeve back down.

They make eye contact one last time before Jeremy walks out the door.

* * *

_Do you have any nicknames?_ Jeremy frowns as he tries to think about all of the names he's been called over the years.

He decides to answer with, 'The good ones or the bad ones?' Richard seems to think before he responds with _whichever ones you want to tell me._

'Well, there's-'

_Well, there's Miah, tall-ass, Jere, and most people call me Jeremy._

The pen drops from Rich's hand and rolls under the chair he's sitting on.

_There aren't many apart from those._

Rich knew there was a reason why that writing was familiar! It was his!

That means that Jeremy kid was his soulmate.

Fuck.

When Richard doesn't answer for a while, Jeremy gets worried. Did he say something wrong?

'Richard?' he writes. It takes a moment for Richard to reply, but the relief that he hasn't left him fades quickly.

_You're the nerd. The one that kept looking at me._ It sounds like he's stunned that he's figured it out.

'What?' Jeremy writes back, confused.

_That's why we were both doing the same production._

'What are you talking about?'

_I'm sorry._

'Richard?'

_It's Rich._

The name is crossed out and replaced with another one.

_Rich Goranski._

Oh fuck.


	2. that's it for now

Jeremy was seriously freaking out. Rich was his soulmate? How the hell did that happen? What kind of cliche fanfiction was this?

__Jeremy? __He looks down as his name appears on his arm.

'You're serious? You aren't playing a trick on me?' He writes back and Rich writes back almost immediately.

__I'm serious. Also, how much of a coincidence do you think this is?__

'Strangely convenient, that's for sure.' And if he was a little bitter about it, sue him. Rich was his bully! He had already proven that he didn't like him!

Jeremy bites his lip, thinking about what might go down the next day at school. Would everyone know? Would Rich betray him and tell everyone his deepest secrets? Would he go as far as publicly humiliating him?

__For a moment I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Now I see that I am very much alive, and heaven has been brought to me__

'What?' Did he seriously use a pickup line? While he was freaking out? Rude.

Rich starts to rewrite it but Jeremy stops him with a small scribble where he was about to write.

'Did you actually just write a pickup line? Now?' He writes, annoyed.

__What else am I supposed to do? Freak out? Been there, done that.__

'I don't know...' That and he was still very much freaking out. A lot.

__Look, I know you're not happy with this, but we'll have to deal with it sooner or later.__

Jeremy supposed he was right. Except, 'who said I wasn't happy about it?' It took a minute to realize why he had said that, but the words rang true in his head. It wasn't exactly Rich that was the problem, it was who he was and what he would do. Or, it was who Jeremy perceived him to be.

__You mean you're alright with this?__

Was he going to be? 'Yeah. Maybe. I don't know.' He lets out a small huff before writing something else. 'Could we talk about this tomorrow?'

A few moments of tense silence pass before Rich replies; __okay. __

* * *

Every second that passed was absolute agony for Jeremy. Was he doubting Rich? Absolutely. Just because they were soulmates didn't mean the other boy would suddenly turn nice.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Jeremy looks over at his friend and shrugs before running a hand through his hair for the thousandth time.

"It's just, what if this is- is a trick?" He can feel his face heat up a bit just thinking about it. And if he's that nervous, he can guarantee that he'll attempt to get out of it.

"It doesn't really sound like it is, Jere. Also, I'm not going to let you bail." Michael shuts his locker and turns to face Jeremy. "And, who knows, maybe this could even be a good thing." He adds on something else, but he's too quiet for Jeremy to actually hear.

Jeremy rolls his eyes. "It's easy for you to say." Michael doesn't answer, electing to stare at something behind Jeremy instead.

"Speak of the devil, " he mutters as he hears Rich's voice.

"Jeremy!" He waves a hand in the air as he walks towards the pair, looking uncharacteristically nervous. The other kids in the hallway are whispering, most likely hoping for a fight. Though, he supposed some had the brains to see that that was the opposite of what was going to happen.

"Hey, Rich." His voice is quiet, but it doesn't seem like the other boy minds.

"I guess that's my cue to leave, " Michael says, pointing down the hall. He and Jeremy bump fists before he walks away, so it's just him and Rich. Jeremy's eyes follow his friend until he disappears, and he has to look at Rich.

"So..." It's almost unsettling to see a popular kid so uneasy. Rich looked like he was out of his league talking to Jeremy. Though, if he were honest, he reminded him of himself.

"Um..." It also appeared that Jeremy was equally stranded. How was it that talking was so much harder now?

"Can we just try being friends at least?" Rich doesn't look at him as he asks, which kind of lowers the sincerity of the phrase. Except, Rich probably wasn't used to doing anything like this, so the refusal of eye contact was understandable.

"I, uh, okay."

Why was he doing this again? Oh, right. Jeremy was his soulmate. The kid he's tormented for years is his soulmate.

"I, uh, okay, " Jeremy says, and Rich could cry. Though, it had nothing to do with the situation at hand, totally uncorrelated. A few moments of silence goes by before Rich bids him goodbye and walks to his first class: U.S. gov.

It was an easy enough class for him, so he let his mind wander. Why did he care so much about him so suddenly, anyway? He knew part of it could have been the fact their souls were connected, but he felt like there was a little more than that.

Did he think the kid was cute? Yeah. Could he genuinely develop feelings for this boy? Definitely. Did he even want a relationship with someone? It would be nice.

So, why was he so afraid of being with Jeremy? Was it the status? No, that didn't matter. The timing? It could have been worse.

Then what was it?

The bell rings and Rich shoves the thoughts into the back of his mind as he tries to make it through the rest of the day.


	3. i lied

Jeremy lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding as Rich leaves. He's also glad to see that most of the other kids had come to their senses and left the two alone, though there were a few that were still staring at him, even after Rich had left. He leans back against the lockers, letting his head fall back, so he's looking at the ceiling.

_Why Rich of all people? _ he asks the heavens mentally. He wasn't too religious, but in this particular instance, he really hoped there was someone up there listening to him. It would also be comforting to know that there was someone he could blame this on, too.

He's taken out of his thoughts by the ringing bell, and he almost panics. _Shit, I'm late for class. _ He quickly pushes himself off the lockers and heads down the hall towards the music room. Luckily, he makes it into his seat right before the tardy bell rings, and the teacher starts teaching. He sinks down lower into his seat with relief, another sigh leaving his mouth. The teacher basically overlooks him for most of the period, which is a nice change, except he doesn't really want to think about the problem at hand. Thinking about it would just confuse him more.

"What's your problem?" Jeremy looks over to see Jenna Rolan in the chair next to him. Had she always sat there? "Hey," she prods him again. He ignores her again. " Heere ."

He rolls his eyes before he turns his head to look at her. "Yeah?" She gives him a look, and his shoulders drop as he mutters a small, _sorry_. And for a moment he's worried she's going to ask about what's happening between him and Rich, and then he won't have an answer which will make her angry. He's startled out of his thoughts as Jenna snaps in front of his face.

"Pay attention. Everyone's left already." She sounds annoyed, which isn't all that surprising since Jeremy knows people get annoyed at him a lot with how much he spaces out. He tries not to let it get to him. It does anyways. Jenna raises an eyebrow, and he realizes she must have said something.

"Sorry, what did-" She interrupts him as soon as he starts to speak.

"What's up with you and short-stack?" Jeremy winces. Of course, she'd want to know. She was Jenna Rolan, gossip queen. "He's usually sticking your head down a toilet, not actually looking scared of you. Unless you did something." Jeremy frowns while Jenna's still looking for an answer. It'd make sense that she'd know these things, but if she saw it, why didn't she do anything?

"I-" She interrupts again.

"You're soulmates, aren't you?" She asks, a knowing look appearing in her eyes. What was he supposed to tell her? He and Rich didn't talk about this. Did he want to keep it low-key? Or did he want it to be public news?

"I-" The teacher intervenes this time, thankfully giving him an out. Before Jenna can ask again, he's blended into the between-class crowd.


	4. hey nerds guess what

**TW: manipulation**

Jeremy lets out a breath as he slips into the second-floor bathroom. That had been insanely close. He slides his backpack off his shoulders, setting it on the edge of the sink. A glance in the mirror proves to be the wrong move when he sees Rich behind him. Well, he guessed it wasn't that bad anymore since their revelation, but Rich was still a wild card, soulmate or not.

Rich approaches him, standing next to the sink and looking everywhere except for Jeremy. But that wasn't right. He seemed to be looking at something that Jeremy couldn't see. Then Rich does look at him.

* * *

Rich takes a chance, glancing at Jeremy. Jeremy seemed to know he was there, but he wasn't paying Rich any mind. Or he was ignoring him. Which, in hindsight, did make sense for him to do. Rich had never exactly been "nice" to the other boy.

Make eye contact. Tell him. 

Rich hesitates at the instruction. Did he really want to rope Jeremy into this mess? Even at the cost of being punished? And would he even buy the spiel?

Leave that to me.

Wha- there's a dull shock that runs up his spine then, a reminder not to talk back. He can feel the computer start to pull the strings of his limbs, manipulating him into position.

_**" Are you okay?"**_ Jeremy turns towards him, suspicion in his eyes, but thankfully he doesn't look like he'll run away at the moment, so that's good.

"I- I ran into Jenna." Watching Jeremy talk is painful as his expression shifts as he thinks and the number of times he goes to say something but then goes back and changes his words. "She asked about you- I mean, about us, and I- I didn't know what to tell her." Jeremy looks away, letting out a breath like he was ashamed. "So, I ran."

_**"I don't think it matters if people know."**_ Rich doesn't bother protesting that decision. He had already known of his sexuality a while ago, even if the squip didn't let him admit it to himself. But the turnaround was surprising, especially with the computer's past behavior.

Jeremy looks back over at him, surprise written clearly on his face. "Really? I- I mean you don't seem-" The squip cuts off his rambling before he spirals away.

_**"You'd be surprised."**_ Honestly, he would be. _**"You know, I wasn't always like this."**_ Was this the actual plan? Baiting him? Yeah. That would totally work.

Richard, the computer warns. Yeah, yeah, he got it, don't mess with the plan.

"What- what do you mean?" Rich smirks.

_**"I mean, that there's something out there that can help you."**_ The squip rattles off a few more things before surprisingly relinquishing control. But, unfortunately for him, Jeremy looks interested in the offer.

"What are you talking about?" Figures one of the only times Jeremy _doesn't_ stutter is when he's asking about a manipulative computer. A slightly sharper shock goes down his spine.

Don't.

The tone of her voice is enough to dissuade him from talking back.

He takes a breath before he starts Jeremy on the path to doom.

"It's a grey oblong pill..."

**This chapter has art! Check it out here: /c/be-more-chill-3469163/page/blog/dsnt-didzsviech/XYXZ_VXHgug6pwkBZWBgEPVXw47Rkz52mK**


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